Harry Potter and the Alchemist's Cell
by DBZfan01
Summary: Things are falling apart. After hearing Voldemort's plan, Snape is assassinated. People are constantly disappearing, and suspicious people are roaming Hogwarts. It is becoming painfully clear that nowhere, including Hogwarts, is safe.


A/n: Please read and review!  
  
It was August 10, at midnight. Midnight, as some said, when the Death Eaters come out to play.  
  
Harry Potter laid in bed, asleep, somewhere he had never been before. Occlumency really didn't have a point, for it wasn't working. Harry's dreams were haunted with Death Eaters and Voldemort. If you asked about the death and destruction of Voldemort, you would probably have to set it into two separate groups, the death and destruction.  
  
One night, Harry was dreaming of yet another meeting amongst the Dark Lord and his followers. He had missed the beginning, but he observed enough to decide that Voldemort must have just told an important plot. The followers were whispering amongst themselves and Voldemort seemed to be looking very pleased with himself.  
  
"I have one last thing to say." The Sorcerer added. Instantaneously the room became silent. "It is my job to make sure that what is said in this room does not reach outside of my fortress. For this little code to be followed, I must say one thing."  
  
He held up his wand looking all around the room. Then, he muttered those two words, the two words that for somebody would be the last words they ever heard alive.  
  
"Avada Kedavra."  
  
A green light shot out of his wand and hit one man straight in the chest. He fell, dead before he hit the ground. Harry saw as the man's mask slipped off his face and as his revealed his identity.  
  
Severus Snape.  
  
Voldemort laughed. As he laughed, the dream faded away.  
  
The dream had ended, but strangely enough, Harry was not awake until the morning.  
  
Harry looked at his clock. It was 6:30. Hedwig, his pet owl, was pecking his hand softly but impatiently. Harry took the letter that he saw attached to the owl's leg, and Hedwig flew over to her cage and started drinking from her water bin.  
  
Harry read the letter quickly, in a hurry to send a response. But he found a response really wasn't necessary. The letter was scribbled as if the writer (Remus) was in a hurry.  
  
Harry,  
  
We'll be picking you up at 7:00. We'll arrive and leave by portkey. We'll explain things to the Muggles when we get there. Something has gone wrong, and we'll explain to you as soon as we get back to you-know-where.  
  
Remus  
  
Harry didn't need explaining. He knew what had gone wrong, Snape was dead.  
  
Of course, he wasn't exactly crying about it. After all, he had hated Snape from the start, but...  
  
Death.  
  
How could such a small word give one so many thoughts? So many doubts, fears, nightmares...  
  
Nightmares were the worst of them all. Life was with doubts, fears, and nightmares, but the nightmares were multiplied the most.  
  
Death. Moved on. Passed away. Bit the dust. Kicked the bucket. Gone.  
  
Death. Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Cedric Diggory, James and Lily Potter, and hadn't they all been Harry's fault? Sirius was following Harry into the Department of Mysteries. Harry suggested that Cedric and he took the trophy at the same time. Lily was protecting Harry, and James was protecting both of them. It was Harry's blood that revived Voldemort, who killed all of these people. Did that make Voldemort the murderer, or Harry?  
  
And, in the future, would Harry not only be the cause of the murders, but the murderer himself? Would the questions ever be answered? Or would life continue as unknown, unheard of? What if...  
  
Harry shook his head furiously. He'd been getting a lot of thoughts like that over the summer, but that one snuck up on him. He looked at his clock and jumped off his bed. It was 6:49! He quickly got dressed in wizarding robes, didn't even bother with his hair, and ran downstairs. He didn't give his uncle a second to start about what an outrage it was for him to show his abnormality inside his house.  
  
"I'm leaving today at seven, see you next summer." He then ran out of the kitchen before anyone could respond to pack. He found that not letting them respond was the easiest way to do things. They couldn't complain but they still figured out everything that they needed to know.  
  
Harry finished packing in record time, but didn't get out of his room fast enough to avoid his uncle standing in the doorway. "What do you mean, you're leaving?"  
  
Harry didn't feel like explaining, so he just said, "Somebody died and I have to go to his funeral." That was simple enough. Not entirely true, but he got the idea across. He brushed past as he heard new voices appearing out of nowhere.  
  
It was Remus, Tonks, Mad-Eye, and surprisingly, Hermione.  
  
"Hi Harry!" Hermione said. She didn't seem to know what the news was either, for she seemed a bit confused.  
  
"We'll be right back." Remus said. They walked into the kitchen and started explaining things to Petunia. Vernon stayed upstairs, not wanting to talk to the 'freaks' in his kitchen.  
  
"So, do you have any idea why we've been suddenly invited to the Phoenix headquarters? Normal invites aren't usually so urgent." Hermione said.  
  
Harry inhaled, looking at Hermione. "They just said something to my parents, something about protection." She continued. "Now we're here, getting you."  
  
'So that's why Hermione was here,' thought Harry, 'they picked her up just a minute ago.'  
  
"Harry, you know something that you aren't telling me." Hermione said, searching his face.  
  
"You're too observant for your own good." Harry paused.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"I'll explain later." Harry said as three adults returned from the kitchen and in a few seconds, Harry was pulled by a finger to a place that was all but unfamiliar.  
  
"Oh, you're back! Hello Harry dear, Hermione, how are you?" Mrs. Weasley asked happily.  
  
"Fine." Answered Harry.  
  
"Great!" answered Hermione. She seemed to be in a good mood for some reason that day.  
  
"Would you two mind going upstairs and getting Ron and Ginny to come back down here?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Fred, George, help them get their things up to their rooms." Harry saw for the first time Fred and George standing in the room. George started levitating Harry's trunk as his mother said, "And if you do anything to their trunks I'll..."  
  
"We won't, Mum." Fred said as he levitated Hermione's trunk and headed up the stairs with Harry and Hermione following.  
  
"Harry!" Ron said as Harry followed George into the room Harry and Ron had shared the year before. George set down the trunks and left quickly.  
  
"Hi Ron, so what's been going on?"  
  
"Did you see a curtain over the portrait of the screaming hag out in the hallway? Remus finally found a way to get that dumb thing down, along with all of the other things that we couldn't get down. This house is so much nicer inside, it's actually not a very bad place to live."  
  
"That's great, but what's going on with the Ministry of Magic and the Death Eaters? The Daily Prophet hasn't written anything about the attacks!"  
  
"Yeah, the Ministry is still trying to convince everyone that they have everything under control. Dad said the Ministry is bribing the Daily Prophet not to write articles about Death Eaters, supposedly not to induce unnessicary panic. But, that'll probably change soon since a petition is going around the Ministry of Magic to impeach Fudge. The only problem is that they don't have any candidates to take the position."  
  
"What about Death Eater attacks?" Harry inquired, hungry for information that was too precious to risk sending by owl.  
  
"Tons." Ron replied. "The Auror Division is in a state of chaos. For every Death Eater caught, two Aurors die. And when Death Eaters are caught, there is hardly anywhere to take the prisoners. The Dementors aren't protecting Azkaban anymore, so when a Death Eater is placed there they don't stay for long. And, we've found out about some of the plots. We don't know much yet, because only Wormtail and Malfoy know the real details. But You-Know-Who has a plot to attack Hogwarts. Snape was going to get some more information last night, maybe there will be a meeting about it today. Snape really is on Dumbledore's side after all, he's working as a spy."  
  
"Ron, Harry, hurry down here!" Mrs. Weasley called.  
  
Harry and Ron stood by Hermione and Ginny as hellos were exchanged. There was a strange gloom in the air as everyone started to arrive. Finally, Dumbledore said what Harry knew he'd say eventually, confirming Harry's fears.  
"Everyone, as most of you know, last night Severus Snape was summoned to a Death Eater meeting to acquire information on a possible attack on Hogwarts." Dumbledore's eyes glanced over everyone in the room. "Severus has been a spy for the Order of the Phoenix for many years, and it seems that no good deed goes unpunished. My point is, last night Severus Snape was killed in the line of duty after Voldemort somehow found out about his unfaithfulness. Severus Snape died trying to protect the innocent, and I hope we all will honor his memory, and the memories of all of the others who have died at the hand of the dark side. With that said, let the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix begin."  
  
When Dumbledore was done speaking what Harry already knew, the four youngest were sent upstairs. Ron and Harry went to their room to unpack Harry's things, and Ginny and Hermione went to their room to unpack Hermione's.  
  
Trying to avoid the topic of the person they had once loathed but now mourned, the four were mostly silent. The silence wasn't broken until Ron finally thought of something to say.  
"So Harry," Ron asked as he began opening Harry's trunk, "have you found out if you could be GEORGE!"  
  
"Sorry, but I can't be George." Harry responded.  
  
"No, George found somebody to test his Pink Paint Tye-Dye Tint on." Harry looked into his trunks and groaned. All of his things were tons of different shades of pink. His robes were hot pink, his books had pale pink pages and a various shades of pink covers, and his quills were the color of someone's tongue.  
  
George and Fred came into the room laughing their heads off. "They worked!" Fred just barely managed to say through his fits of laughter.  
  
"Yeah, now tell us how to fix these!" Ginny demanded as she and Hermione stalked into the room, Ginny carrying pink parchment and Hermione carrying an entirely pink book, looking fearful that it might be ruined.  
  
"But I think that it's a rather nice touch, don't you think?" George asked.  
  
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE THIS TIME!?!" Mrs. Weasley yelled from downstairs. Fred pulled two small vials filled with a clear liquid from his pocket and tossed one to Harry, one to Hermione.  
  
"Nothing!" Both twins yelled as they raced back to their room. "By the way, those might take a few minutes to take effect." George whispered out the door as Mrs. Weasley rushed up the stairs.  
  
"What did they do?" She asked irritated.  
  
"Remember the Pink Paint Tye-dye Tints?" Ron asked. Mrs. Weasley groaned as she headed down the hall. "Really, it's OK." Ron said.  
  
"Why are you trying to defend the twins?" Hermione asked.  
  
"If you get the twins in trouble, they'll get you back." Ron and Ginny replied at the same time.  
  
Then, Remus appeared out of nowhere. "Harry, would you come with me for a moment?" He asked.  
  
"Sure"  
  
Harry followed Remus to Sirius's old room. Harry hesitated at the doorway. "Come in, Harry."  
  
Harry took another step, and looked around the room he had never been in before. Remus was searching through a drawer where he found a piece of parchment that he brought to Harry.  
  
"While searching through Sirius's things, we found that he left a will. His fortune has been split in half between us. Except some childhood possessions and momentums, everything has been left to you."  
  
Harry had never thought about this. He never even wondered about a will. It had been the last thing on his mind.  
  
"Harry, how would you like it if I took you, Ron, Hermione, and maybe Ginny out to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get your supplies? Dumbledore said he would be dropping off your letters and OWL results tonight."  
  
Harry smiled. "That'd be great."  
  
A/n: Read and Review!! 


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